SOCIAL REPORT 2014 Wear... · 2018. 10. 23. · lovers to contribute to discover possibilities. Massimo Baratto, CEO Oberalp Group SOCIAL REPORT 2014. 3 ... a world of opportunities

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

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Letter from the CEO

We are a group of mountain enthusiasts, a

family of brands united by the passion for

mountain sports and driven by our commit-

ment to the communities of the places where

we live and work.

Our aim is to integrate the mountaineering

spirit in our daily life and operations: re-

specting nature, saving resources by using

only the necessary, leaving as few traces as

possible and taking responsibility for the

people around us.

And to inspire others to do the same.

Sustainability started as a project within the

Oberalp Group and has found its way deep

into our culture. We believe this is a logical

consequence that derives from our enthusi-

asm, our love for mountains. There is no love

without passion, but also not without respect

for what we love. To establish this culture we

went through a process that calls for the abil-

ity to change.

Being responsible as a brand also means to

share and deepen knowledge. We are proud

members of trusted and respected networks

like bluesign®and the Fair Wear Founda-

tion, who have given us valuable support in

reaching our goals and going beyond each

year. Improving the working conditions in

the factories is not an easy task, but in these

last two years we have managed to make im-

portant progress with our suppliers, through

consistent communication and the strength-

ening of our partnerships.

As a global player we have a duty to operate

responsibly, but also see an opportunity to

create long-term positive value and change

for good. Just as we did when we entered

the path of sustainability, we want to invite

all partners, friends, associates and mountain

lovers to contribute to discover possibilities.

Massimo Baratto, CEO Oberalp Group

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

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Contents SOCIAL REPORT 2014

SALEWA and DYNAFIT, part of the Oberalp Group ......................................... 4

Summary: goals and achievements in 2014 ........................................................ 5

1. | Who makes our products ...................................................................................... 6

Our suppliers

Production Countries

Sourcing

2. | Production cycle ........................................................................................................ 8

3. | Making our social standards a reality:

communication, monitoring, complaints handling .................................. 9

Our Code of Conduct

Communication

Monitoring and remediation

“Low-risk” country suppliers

“High risk” country suppliers

A deeper look into our factories - analysis per country

Vietnam

China

Romania

Indonesia

Bangladesh

Turkey

Myanmar

Cambodia

Taiwan

Korea

Complaints handling

4. | Transparency: reporting .................................................................................................................... 19

4

SALEWA and DYNAFIT part of the Oberalp Group

The Oberalp Group belongs to the family of

Heiner Oberrauch, that has been active in tex-

tiles for five generations.

Founded 1846 by Anton Oberrauch, the origin

and foundation was the knowledge and passion

about high valuable fabrics as well as the devel-

opment of treatments to improve their perfor-

mance features - always dedicated to the user

benefits and the excellence of material percep-

tion.

Out of that expertise the further development

went into the production and distribution of

functional clothes and other related products

for both daily and extraordinary use. The Ober-

alp Group –founded in 1981 by Heiner Ober-

rauch - now employs more than 500 people and

is active in various sectors of production, retail,

wholesale and distribution in the fashion indus-

try and sporting goods field.

As a family - owned company, people are the

key component of the Oberalp Group’s philos-

ophy and business values are rather long-term

oriented. Driven by the passion about sport and

mountain activities, our inspiration comes from

and aims at a healthy lifestyle through the sen-

sible use of resources as well as care for the en-

vironment. Our brands are built thanks to a deep

involvement of our people: specific user com-

munities, as well as other stakeholders like ath-

letes, journalists, bloggers and of course a loyal

base of dealers are at the heart of our growth.

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Acquired in 1990, SALEWA became the first pri-

vate label within the portfolio of the Oberalp

Group. SALEWA is a truly authentic and dynamic

mountain sports brand that is dedicated to con-

stantly innovating, improving and optimizing

gear and services for mountaineers and moun-

tain enthusiasts. The latest technology, safety

and a responsible use of resources make SALE-

WA a reliable “rope partner”.

DYNAFIT became part of the group in 2003. In-

spired by athletes and the need for extreme ad-

ventures in the mountains: ski touring in winter,

mountain running and mountain biking in sum-

mer. Speed, lightness, technology and perfor-

mance without compromise.

5

Summary: goals and achievements in 2014

2014 was a very busy year. Joining the FWF

at the end of 2013 meant re-organizing our

team internally, re-thinking our auditing sys-

tem and opening up to third-party verifica-

tion in our factories. It also led us to discover

a world of opportunities for improvement

and helped us to strengthen our relationship

with our manufacturers.

Our task entails a delicate balance: we are a

family-owned company who became a glob-

al player. We feel responsible for the people

who work for us, but produce and sell all

around the world: it is a daily challenge to

make high quality products, deliver them at

the right time, and with the right price and at

the same time ensure fair working conditions

in the factories.

Competition is tough in the market and there

we look for factors that differentiate us from

other brands. But something we have in com-

mon is that we cooperate with specialists in

technical products, and often our suppliers

and their factories are spread around the

world, in countries with very different cul-

tures and standards. Some of them cooper-

ate with more than one brand, and the Fair

Wear Foundation has put a system in place to

allow for friendly and effective cooperation

between us: if we join efforts we are more

likely to persuade suppliers to improve the

working conditions in their factories.

To achieve this it is essential to play with

open cards, to work hard at home and to

communicate on a regular basis. More trans-

parency in the supply chain, honest dialogue

with our partners and constant verification of

the working conditions in the factories have

always been goals of our Company, and the

implementation of the FWF system has been

an outstanding vehicle to achieve them, al-

beit, not an easy one.

That said, in 2014 we managed to achieve

great progress in the implementation of our

social standards. Firstly in the communica-

tion of our Code of Conduct and the social

standards of the Code of Labour practices:

around 95% of our suppliers signed our

Code of Conduct and disclosed the informa-

tion we requested about their factories. Sec-

ondly, in monitoring the working conditions

in our factories: we had set ourselves the goal

of covering 60% of our production volume,

and reached 78% instead. Thirdly, in trans-

parency: we now publish information on our

suppliers and processes, and exchange infor-

mation about our factories with our compet-

itors. We thus join efforts to achieve a com-

mon goal, the effective improvement of the

working conditions in the factories we share.

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

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1. | Who makes our products

We work hard to build long-term and stable

relationships with our suppliers. As a matter

of fact, 16% of them have been with us for

more than 10 years, 39% between 5 and 10

years, and 35% between 2 and 4 years. We

believe the only way to grow as a Company

is to have partners who themselves grow and

improve also, and cooperate with them to im-

prove the working and environmental stand-

ards in their factories. However, we may start

business with new suppliers for a number of

reasons: technical or quality requirements, or

in some cases, because an existing supplier

does not fulfill our CSR standards and does

not cooperate in the improvement of work-

ing conditions in its factories. This makes up

around 10% of our suppliers.

We evaluate them constantly on their overall

performance, with monitoring and audits in

the factories, and the solution of problematic

issues is one of the key points in continuing

the cooperation. Our aim is to help suppliers

in the process of reaching higher standards in

their facilities, but when this is not possible

because the actual conditions of the facto-

ries do not meet the basic health and safety

standards, and the supplier is unwilling or

unable to make significant improvement, we

have to look for an alternative. A situation

like this lead us, - after open dialogue and

understanding on behalf of the supplier - to

reallocate a planned production from a fac-

tory in Bangladesh to another one in China.

The decision to look for a new supplier in-

volves our General Management, our sourc-

ing staff, our pricing and quality Managers

and our CSR team. We visit the prospective

partner and conduct an evaluation of its fa-

cilities through a “screening procedure”. The

criteria for an eventual cooperation are the

respect of labour standards contained in

our CoC, the availability of required tech-

nologies or machines and capability of the

supplier to produce the product in the right

way, the capacity of the factory to deal with

our forecast quantities in the timing we pro-

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Years of cooperation with our suppliers

10%

35%

10 years or more 2-4 years

5-10 years 1 year

39%

16%

pose and at our target FOB price. Also the

geographic location of the factory is impor-

tant: a logistics and environmental assess-

ment helps us to choose factories evaluating

their potential environmental impact, and

we prefer factories that are close to trans-

port infrastructures, to fabric and accesso-

ries suppliers. Finally, a quality and volume

assessment helps us to find the right pro-

duction country and supplier with regard to

our required quality standards, the estimated

quantity, and the risks linked to production

lead time and delayed delivery.

Sourcing

SALEWA and DYNAFIT supplier sourcing is

done independently by the different divi-

sions. Each division has its own structure

but the common denominator in decisions

concerning our production sources is the

fact that they are taken by close cooperation

between the members of the team. Suppli-

ers are evaluated periodically and all aspects

of their performance are taken into account,

including the results obtained in audit and

monitoring CoC implementation in the fac-

tories. Taking a supplier on board and pro-

duction allocation are the result of in-depth

discussion between the Division Managers,

the sourcing director (only in the apparel di-

vision), costing and production managers, the

quality department, product managers and

developers, and the CSR team.

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Production Countries

SALEWA and DYNAFIT product ranges are

made in 20 different countries, 10 of which

are in low-risk areas. Approximately 30% of

our purchasing volume (FOB value) in 2014

was produced in Europe or the USA. The two

most important supplier countries outside

Europe are Vietnam and China.

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Production facilities

Europe/USA Indonesia

Vietnam

China

Other countries

35%

29%

3% 4%

30%

China

Indonesia

Taiwan

Vietnam

Cambodia

Myanmar

Bangladesh

Turkey

Lithuania

Hungary

England

GermanyCzech Rep.

Switzerland

USAAustria

Romania

Croatia

Italy

Korea

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2. | Production cycle

The cycle of our products varies slightly be-

tween the different divisions (apparel, foot-

wear, equipment and technical hardware),

depending on the technology employed, de-

velopment times and market needs.

However, common elements are the produc-

tion in two seasons, summer and winter, and

the agreement of a feasible timeline with

the suppliers at the beginning of the sea-

son, where the most important national and

religious holidays in the countries where we

produce are taken into account: Ferragosto

(the Assumption of Mary), Chinese New Year,

Quingming (Tomb Sweeping Day – All Souls),

the two golden weeks (the first weeks of Oc-

tober and May), Taiwanese Peace Memorial

Day, Mid Autumn Day, Dragon Boat Festival

and Ramadan.

Enough time is allowed for the production

and quantities are split between two or three

well-spaced orders per season. Forecasting

plays a key role, as does the consolidation of

similar styles and fabrics to increase resource

efficiency, the overall constant communica-

tion with the suppliers to solve doubts on

either side, and the timely sending of all

technical data and sample approval so that

suppliers can go ahead with the production

as soon as orders are placed.

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Collection concept

Design & development

7months 3 months

Forecasting and production planning

6-8 months

TransportSales samples

Central warehouse

Changes for production

Price definition Production

Design and production cycle

9

Our Code of Conduct

Sustainability and compliance, as well an eth-

ical and fair behaviour towards people are at

the core of our Code of Conduct (CoC): the

backbone of our business as a Company and

the standards we expect from our suppliers

around the world. One of its functions is to

make all employees and suppliers aware of

the laws and principles, as well as the Com-

pany policy around social responsibility, the

environment and corruption.

Protecting the people who are involved in

making our products, and supporting them

to develop and progress, is difficult when

working with companies around the world

with foreign ownership and different cul-

tures.

Our CoC has therefore evolved with time and

incorporated stricter standards, and the lat-

est (2014) version includes the integration

of the Fair Wear Foundation’s Code of Labour

Practices and the principles of the UN Global

Compact.

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

1. Child labour is not tolerated. Suppliers

may not employ any person below the age

of 15 or below the age for completing com-

pulsory education if higher, according to the

laws of the country of manufacture (CRC, ILO

Convention 138).

2. All employees must be treated with re-

spect and dignity. Suppliers may not subject

their employees to physical, sexual, psycho-

logical or verbal harassment or abuse.

3. Employment must be based on ability

and no discrimination is tolerated.

We verify that suppliers do not have discrim-

inatory policies or practices in recruitment

or with regard to employment practices such

as salary, benefits, working conditions, dis-

cipline or termination, on the basis of gen-

der, race, nationality, social or ethnic origin,

religion, sexual orientation, political opinion,

age, disability, handicaps or other status.

(UDHR, ICERD, ICCPR, ILO Conventions 100

and 111).

4. Employment must be freely chosen.

The use forced labour, whether in the form

of prison labour, bonded labour, or other-

wise is not tolerated. No employee shall be

compelled to work through force, the threat

of force, or intimidation in any form (UDHR,

ICCPR, ILO Conventions 29 and 105).

5. Payment of a living wage must be guar-

anteed. Wages are essential to meeting the

employees’ basic needs. We only deal with

suppliers who compensate their employees

fairly by providing wages, benefits and leave

that is equal to or exceeding legal minimum

wage or prevailing sports industry wage,

whichever is higher. The wages paid must be

adequate to cover living costs and allow a

reasonable discretionary income in addition.

(UDHR, ILO Conventions 26 and 131).

6. Hours of work shall not be excessive

and overtime duly paid. Suppliers should

maintain reasonable working hours. They

must ensure that the regular working sched-

ule does not exceed 48 hours per week and

guarantee that workers are provided with at

least one day off after 6 consecutive work-

ing days. Overtime may not exceed 12 hours

per week, may not be demanded on a regular

basis and must always be compensated at a

premium rate, (ILO Convention 1). Workers

must always have the freedom to accept or

to refuse overtime work.

7. Working conditions are decent and safe.

Suppliers must provide their employees with

a safe and healthy working environment,

designed to prevent accidents and injury

to health, arising out of or occurring in the

course of work. This includes protection from

fire, accidents, and harm through toxic sub-

stances, and guaranteed access to drinkable

water at all times. Moreover, lighting, heating,

ventilation systems and sanitary facilities

should be adequate. Factories must have

safety and health policies and procedures

that are clearly communicated to the work-

ers. The same standards apply to residential

facilities if they are provided to employees.

Effective regulations must be implemented

to prevent accidents and minimize health risk

as much as possible (ILO Convention 155).

8. Freedom of association must be guaran-

teed. We expect all of our suppliers to grant

their employees the right to freedom of asso-

ciation and collective bargaining, in a lawful

and peaceful manner and without fear of any

disciplinary action, penalty or interference.

(Universal Declaration on Human Rights, IC-

CPR, ICESCR, ILO Conventions 87 and 98).

Workers’ representatives may not be subject

to discrimination and shall have access to

3. | Making our social standards a reality: communication, monitoring, complaints handling

10

Our Code of Conduct SOCIAL REPORT 2014

all workplaces necessary to enable them to

carry out their representative function. (ILO

Convention 135 and Recommendation 143).

9. The employment relationship is formal-

ly established. The relationship between the

supplier and its workers must be regulated

by a written contract with clear rights and

obligations, and giving the parties the pos-

sibility of lawful termination. Obligations to

employees under labour or social security

laws and regulations arising from the regular

employment relationship shall not be avoid-

ed through the use of labour-only contract-

ing agreements, or through apprenticeship

schemes where there is no real intent to im-

part skills or provide regular employment.

10. Environmental requirements.

Suppliers must implement an effective pro-

gram and a system to tackle environmental

issues in the factory, taking a precautionary

approach. This includes applying the best

available technologies and adequate meas-

ures to prevent pollution by reducing and

managing waste as well as emissions to air

and water, extending the use of environmen-

tally friendly technologies for cleaner pro-

duction, and supporting the sustainable use

of natural resources.

11. Corruption

We conduct business with integrity, honesty

and responsibility and promote and support

initiatives to counter all forms of corruption.

Suppliers must guarantee that their business

practices involving products for us are free

of corruption, direct or indirect, including

planned, attempted, requested or successful

transfer of a benefit as a result of bribery or

extortion.

The full text of our Code of Conduct is availa-

ble on the websites of SALEWA and DYNAFIT.

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Communication SOCIAL REPORT 2014

With this last update we decided to give a

special focus to raising the awareness of

the Code with our suppliers and inside the

Company, of the importance of verifying the

working conditions in the factories where our

products are made, and then taking concrete

steps to improve them where problems were

found, adopting the Fair Wear Foundation ap-

proach and method.

An introduction of the Fair Wear Foundation

system of values and procedures to partners

who are not familiar with them, and our com-

mitment to work according to them with all

suppliers are part of our daily work, and sup-

pliers who wish to cooperate with us must

commit to this long-term goal of ours.

All our partners have the obligation to sign

our CoC and commit to its implementation, to

disclose the data of the factories where they

make our products, and to inform each fac-

tory about the implications of our Fair Wear

Foundation membership and requirements.

Dialogue is essential for the implementation

of these standards, so any opportunity for

refreshing this commitment is good. We re-

mind the suppliers of the importance of it in

our periodic communication, at our bi-annual

supplier conventions, and on our frequent

visits to them by management and quality

control we discuss the status and difficulties

they face.

Some suppliers have an easier path, because

local laws in place and existing social secu-

rity systems provide good support. They are

considered by Fair Wear Foundation to be

“low risk country factories” (for example

Lithuania, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Germany,

where in 2014 we produced around 25% of

our total volume) and decent working condi-

tions are almost a given. Subscription of our

Code of Conduct is still essential, the posting

of a document in the local language inform-

ing workers of their rights and publishing a

helpline allowing them to inform us of any

irregularities is a must, and monitoring is

not essential but we visit the factories and

make informal audits in any case. Until now

we have not found any critical situations and

these factories have very high standards,

making our work in this respect quite light.

More difficult is the work with suppliers locat-

ed afar, where enhanced control is required,

and are therefore the so-called of “high

risk”. Common risks in these countries are

suppliers subcontracting to facilities which

are unknown to the customers and below the

expected standards, accurate and timely data

is difficult to attain and monitoring and close

follow-up are a must. Our efforts here go in

three directions: data collection, where we

put in place a system for suppliers to inform

of the planned production sites and make a

screening of prospective factories; worker

information, where we make sure that work-

ers are made aware of their rights via the

posting of a so-called “Worker Information

Sheet” provided by Fair Wear Foundation

in the local language, and also by offering

training sessions for the staff and workforce

of the factories; and audit and monitoring,

where our quality control team visits each

facility where our products are made at least

once a year, and we also carry out audits with

the Fair Wear Foundation team. In 2014 we

monitored factories covering more than two

thirds of our production volume.

Additionally, aiming also at prevention and

awareness we organized training and capac-

ity building in four factories. Training and

information is also crucial at home, so we or-

ganized sessions for our local staff in Europe

and also in Asia, including the management

and our quality team.

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Monitoring and remediation SOCIAL REPORT 2014

We monitor the implementation of our Code

of Conduct and Fair Wear Foundation’s Code

of Labour Practices in the factories. In our

audits and visits to suppliers we look for

evidence that the following standards are

respected: Employment is freely chosen; no

discrimination in employment; no child la-

bour; freedom of association and the right

to collective bargaining; payment of a living

wage; no excessive working hours; safe and

healthy working conditions; that a legally

binding employment relationship is in place.

Each audit is followed by a complete as-

sessment of the findings regarding each of

these standards. In case we find situations

of non-compliance, a corrective action plan

(CAP) with steps for remediation, and a time-

line for them, is set up. Auditing and CAP fol-

low up until all issues are closed are shared

between us and other brands who also pro-

duce in the factory and share the interest of

seeing the solution of the problems. Trans-

parency in the disclosure of our production

facilities by Fair Wear Foundation members

allows for them to help us to find “matches”

and thus cooperate effectively.

Auditing is not necessary in low-risk coun-

tries. Most partners did, however, sign and

confirm compliance to our CoC and Fair

Wear Foundation’s Code of Labour Practices.

We visited around half of these factories in

2014. The facilities we did not visit (except

for the Croatian supplier, who we ceased to

work with) are long term partners of ours,

with an average of more than 7 years part-

nership and no risk of non-compliance with

our standards.

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“Low-risk” country suppliers SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Country Factory code FWFSystem Production share Signed CoC/CoLP

Factory disclosed all information requested (FWF Questionnaire)

Worker Information Sheet is posted in the factory

Visited in 2014

Years of cooperation with SALEWA - DYNAFIT

Austria4570 0.02% yes yes yes no 8

5419 0.02% yes yes yes yes 7

Croatia 5458 0.15% no yes no no 1

Czech Republic 5418 1.04% yes yes yes no 7

England 5423 0.01% yes yes yes yes 3

Germany5432 0.22% no yes no no 4

5489 0.14% yes yes yes no 10

Hungary 7399 0.05% yes yes yes yes 1

Italy


7211 0.06% yes yes no yes 7


5459 0.31% yes yes yes no 10

5463 0.07% yes yes yes no 7



5474 0.21% yes yes no no 7

5475 0.01% yes yes yes no 10

7220 0.12% no no no yes 1


7254 0.18% yes yes no yes 2



Lithuania3854 0.92% yes yes yes yes 4


Switzerland 5417 2.50% no yes yes yes 8

USA 5424 0.06% yes yes yes no 8

TOTAL 26 25% 85% 96% 77% 50% Average: 5.5yrs

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“High-risk” country suppliers SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Country Factory code FWFSystem Production share Signed CoC/CoLP Factory disclosed all information

requested (FWF Questionnaire)Worker Information Sheet is posted in the factory Visited in 2014 Worker Training Audits

VIETNAM

7306 0.40% yes yes no yes x

7219 0.20% no no no yes

5645 3.90% yes yes yes yes x

5505 0.02% yes yes yes no


5414 20.40% yes yes yes yes yes x

4568 0.30% yes yes yes yes Plan 2015 x


3270 0.20% yes yes no yes


ROMANIA 2708 5.12% yes yes yes yes x

INDONESIA

5516 0.07% yes yes no no








BANGLADESH

5767 0.21% yes yes yes yes




5766 0.09% no no no yes

TURKEY5767 0.21% yes yes yes no Plan 2015


MYANMAR 5453 0.19% yes yes yes yes

CAMBODIA 7218 0.47% yes yes yes yes

TAIWAN 2997 0.07% no yes yes no


KOREA 6033 0.05% yes yes yes no

TOTAL 31 45.00% 87% 90%

CHINA 68 Factories 29.40% 100% 97% 37% 80% 3 12

15

Audits in 2014

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

In 2014 we managed to cover 78% of our

production volume with low risk production

plus these audits.

Country

% ofpro-duction audited / low risk

Audits Trainings

Vietnam 34% 7 1

China 14% 9 3

Romania 5% 1

Myanmar 0.19% 1

Low-Risk 25% N/A

TOTAL 78% 18 4

Vietnam

A deeper look into our factories - analysis per country

In 2014, we had 10 factories and produced 34% of our total volume in Vietnam. Being the country with the highest share, we decid-ed to prioritize it for monitoring . We carried out 7 audits and one worker training session in the largest facility.

We found no issues regarding the freedom of choice of employment or discrimination in employment. Regarding child labour, no children were being employed, but there were two cases of factories hiring juvenile workers, one of which did not have a system in place to verify the age of workers. Both is-sues were solved and closed. Freedom of association and collective bar-gaining is a critical issue in Vietnam. We found problems in three factories: the first one did not have dialogue mechanisms or procedures, and worker meetings were not held every 3 months as required by law. We are following these issues with management. The second one had a trade union, however: no record was kept on meetings; the exec-utive committee was in need of training in communication skills; the election process was not known to workers and the union leader was not one of the workers. We are tackling all these issues in cooperation with another brand with whom we share the au-diting. In the third factory, workers were not aware of the function of the trade union and

the list of workers representatives was not posted. The factory solved both issues within the end of the year.

Achieving the payment of a living wage is one of our main goals. In our audits we found that even though the legal minimum wage is paid to workers, wages are below esti-mates of living wage by local stakeholders. Additionally, in some cases workers do not understand how wages are calculated. In an-other factory we found problems regarding the payment of overtime premium or leaves and benefits to workers according to legal requirements. We are working towards the solution of these problems with the suppli-ers: providing training to workers on their rights regarding payment (clarity, overtime, leave), seeking immediate remediation of unpaid leave and looking for a way to con-tribute to the payment of a living wage.

Overtime is common in Vietnamese factories. We found it in most of the factories audited. Because this is strictly linked to the handling of production orders, we are working towards the improvement of their planning through constant forecasting, cooperation with fabric suppliers, and avoiding last-minute changes, allowing for a feasible timing for the produc-tion and thus reasonable hours of work.We identified health and safety issues which

were promptly addressed and solved by the factories: in cooperation with another brand on these audits, we were able to get the fac-tories to mark exit doors clearly, to fix a fire alarm, to provide proper storage and labeling for chemicals, to carry out machinery and fire extinguisher inspections, to train workers on health and safety. For longer term issues, factories committed to putting a system in place for guaranteeing the standards we re-quire: designing a safety officer, testing the work environment once a year, making year-ly medical check-ups for the workers and a policy for helping pregnant women and new mothers’ needs.

Minor cases of non-compliance with local laws regarding the employment contract, whereby apprentices were paid below atheir due salary or had a longer probation period were solved immediately by the factory.

The supplier with the highest volume of our production came out to be the one where we found the most cases of non-compliance, so we decided to carry out a worker training programme. We are closely following the developments in this factory and are confi-dent that training the staff and workers will enhance dialogue and contribute significant-ly to improve the working conditions.

16

China Romania SOCIAL REPORT 2014

In China we had 68 factories and 29% of our

production volume. We performed 9 audits

and after the findings, decided to carry out 3

worker training programmes in the factories

where we saw it was needed the most.

We found no issues of forced labour, dis-

crimination or child labour, apart from an

unregistered juvenile worker. Although all

workers appeared to have signed a contract,

records showed that not all were provided

with the legal benefits as far as social insur-

ance was concerned, and some workers com-

plained that they had not received a copy of

the contract. Employers were urged to solve

these situations in a timeframe of 3 months

to one year.

Regarding freedom of association and col-

lective bargaining, in 10 out of the 12 facil-

ities we audited, there were no trade unions

in place. Most suppliers are prepared to train

workers on the benefits of a worker’s com-

mittee. One supplier questioned the useful-

ness of them and we decided to carry out a

training programme at the factory.

The payment of a living wage and the mit-

igation of overtime are the two most rel-

evant issues in China. We have made some

In 2014 we audited our only partner in Ro-

mania, who produces around 5% of our total

volume. During this audit, shared with anoth-

er brand, we found no issues of forced labour,

discrimination or child labour, and all work-

ers have signed an employment contract.

In order to more effectively exercise their

freedom of association, workers expressed

their wish to have more than one representa-

tive. The factory promised to allow this, elec-

tions were held and now there are represent-

atives in each section of the factory.

We encountered three main health and safe-

ty issues: a lack of explanation in the use of

chemicals, a foreign language in the instruc-

tions for use of machinery and the need for

standing workers to have a place to rest. Most

issues were solved immediately and the rest

will be closed soon.

It was not possible to get a clear picture of

workers’ wages. The Director of the factory

pledged to elaborate a board explaining it

clearly to the workers (done) and assured us

that they are 20% above the legal minimum.

According to local stakeholders this would be

below the living wage, so we need to further

work with the factory in achieving

progress in these aspects but still find it chal-

lenging. Poor planning by the suppliers and

subcontracting to smaller factories are some

of the key factors that contribute to this (and

which explain the relatively low rate of facto-

ries where the WIS was posted, see above).

Another problem we have encountered is

the lack of transparency: we have repeatedly

been presented with false payment and at-

tendance records. So cooperation and hard

work are needed to make serious improve-

ment, and we will continue to focus on these

two aspects.

Minor issues regarding health and safe-

ty were found and the factories pledged to

solve them promptly: to free the exits, to

check the extinguishers and replace them

if needed, to install or distribute protecting

devices where missing, and to provide ergo-

nomic chairs for the workers.

17

Indonesia Bangladesh Myanmar

Turkey Cambodia TaiwanKorea

SOCIAL REPORT 2014

In Indonesia we work with a trusted partner

since 2008. In 2014 8 factories produced

2,6% of our total volume. We visit the facto-

ries on a regular basis and they are also au-

dited by third parties and the results shared

with us openly. No major issues have been

found so far.

Forced labour, discrimination and child

work are not present in these factories. Mi-

nor issues regarding overtime, health and

safety (emergency exits, instructions for the

use of extinguishers in the local language,

first aid boxes) and training needed for the

workers on the importance of social securi-

ty were discussed with factory management,

and needed actions began immediately. We

plan to execute an audit with Fair Wear Foun-

dation at one of the factories (5520).

In Bangladesh we worked with 5 factories

who covered 1,5% of our production volume

in 2014.

Following the tragic events in Bangladesh

in 2012, and aware of the difficulties in en-

suring the compliance of safety standards in

that country, we decided to work exclusively

with suppliers who are parties to the Accord

on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

We carried out health and safety audits in

the facilities of our existing suppliers and

fortunately no major issues were found. We

are checking existing factories regularly and

new factories before orders are placed. On

one of these screening audits we discovered

major irregularities at a prospective factory,

and we decided to allocate the production to

a Chinese factory.

Our production volume is quite low, less than

0,3% shared between two factories. One

of the factories has been working for us for

more than 7 years and we visit the facilities

on a regular basis. We have not found any

major issues so far and are planning an audit

with Fair Wear Foundation in 2015.

One of our partners has a factory in Cambodia,

where 0,4% of our volume is produced. Our sup-

plier is committed to implementing our Code of

Conduct and Fair Wear Foundation’s Code of Labour

Practices, and although audits are planned in his

other two factories located in China and Vietnam, no

audits are planned in this factory in the short term.

In Taiwan two factories produce together

0,1% of our volume. Both of them have com-

mitted to implementing our Code of Conduct

and there are no audits planned in these fa-

cilities in 2015.

One supplier of accessories for our equip-

ment division who has been our partner since

2007 and produces 0,05% of our volume.

He has committed to the implementation of

our Code of Conduct and Fair Wear Founda-

tion’s Code of Labour Practices. No audits are

planned in this factory in 2015.

We produce only a small quantity in Myan-

mar, less than 1% of our volume. In 2014

we had only one partner, who committed

to implementing our Code of Conduct and

the Code of Labour Practices. Our Staff visit-

ed the factory, and the results of their audit

were quite satisfactory: no major issues of vi-

olations of the social standards were found.

From 2015 we will cease or cooperation with

this factory but will be working with a new

one, shared by other brands. We are planning

a joint training programme with them.

18

Complaints handling SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Each of our factories must hang the Code of

Labour Practices of the Fair Wear Founda-

tion in a visible place in the factory, in the

local language of the workers. Their rights are

explained and workers can call a telephone

number for issuing complaints or denounc-

ing irregularities in the factory. Complaints

reach the Fair Wear Foundation and notified

to our CSR staff, who is in charge of follow-

ing it up with the supplier until it is solved to

the satisfaction of all those involved. The Fair

Wear Foundation then publishes a report on

its website, under

http://www.fairwear.org/506/resources/

complaints with the name of the member

(brand) involved.

In 2014 we received 5 complaints. Most of

them regard excessive working hours, pay-

ment of a living wage and in one case, lim-

itations to terminate the work contract. They

were all closed. One of them regarded de-

layed payment of wages and found to be un-

grounded.

Hotline

19

4. | Transparency: reporting SOCIAL REPORT 2014

Transparency is important, not only in obtain-

ing and keeping information but also in com-

municating it to all stakeholders. We keep

the public informed about our CSR activities

through the web. Until now we worked with

a collective microsite inside the webpage of

the Oberalp group, www.csr.oberalp.com and

are now building brand websites with spe-

cific information regarding SALEWA (www.

salewa.com) and DYNAFIT (www.DYNAFIT.

com). The progress on the implementation of

our social standards is communicated mainly

through the Social Report and in Facebook,

and it will be one of the main topics in our

new CSR report 2015, due to be published

in October.

Sales representatives of both brands SALEWA

and DYNAFIT are informed via trainings twice

a year because it is fundamental that they are

able to explain CSR relevant topics to their

clients and our dealers. Progress in our work

with human rights in the supply chain is also

regularly reported in staff meetings and on

our intranet.

Last, we hold regular meetings with the FWF

working team to check implementation and

discuss the outcomes of the Brand Perfor-

mance Checks with the General Managers

and the CEO of the Company. We then set

new KPIs to have clear goals for further im-

provement and implementation of the social

standards.

For more information on our Corporate Social

Responsibility projects and efforts see the

websites of SALEWA and DYNAFIT.

Documents

SOCIAL REPORT 2014 Wear... · 2018. 10. 23. · lovers to contribute to discover possibilities. Massimo Baratto, CEO Oberalp Group SOCIAL REPORT 2014. 3 ... a world of opportunities